Naneth
by ami-chan200
Summary: Imladris has been blessed with twins, Elladan & Elrohir and all are delighted, especially their father, Elrond. Their mother Celebrian, does not seem to feel the same way and Erestor is left in charge of the elflings. What will poor Erestor do? Yaoi Slash
1. Chapter One

Even though the fic is currently PG, it will probably not remain PG. ^__^ So, read with that in mind! Having finished so many of my chapter fics around the same time as I did, I feel it is now time to start into my elf- fic that has been playing around in my head for a while now.  
  
Naneth  
  
by Ami-chan  
  
It was a joyous day in Imladris, for Elrond the Half-Elven's wife, Celebrian, had brought two beautiful, healthy boys into Middle Earth. Most everyone was celebrating and the festivities were lively, indeed! Twins! It was certainly a cause for revelry at least as far as most of the inhabitants of Imladris were concerned. There were, however, always exceptions to every rule. In this case, the "exception's" name was Erestor.  
  
There was much work to be done, which was clear enough by the stacks of papers littering every available space in Elrond's study. Erestor cringed visibly at the mess the Lord of Imladris had left undone yet again and cringed once more when he realized he would be the one to put it all back in order. Once more, he damned his fate at being the advisor to such an untidy half-elf. He had plenty of work to do without constantly trying to keep Elrond organized, as well! Perhaps if his own study were not adjoined to Lord Elrond's then he would not have to see this mess and would not feel the need to clean it... for surely if he were to set eyes on such disaster, then it must be cleaned! Such horror could not be allowed to continue, after all.  
  
Erestor sighed and flopped down into a nearby chair heedless of the scrolls and parchments he crushed in the process. He was an extremely boring elf – though he admitted it only to himself – and everyone else knew this as well. He was not so ignorant of the whispers that went on through Imladris as others might think he was. It was common knowledge that he was an up- tight, obsessive compulsive, perfectionist. In truth, the only part that held truth was that everything had to be perfect, which made him a good advisor; he choose his words and actions carefully before he spoke, weighing the consequences so as to get the most positive response. He planned events to the last detail, leaving nothing out, making certain it was the absolute best for all circumstances.  
  
Yet, he was still an incredibly boring individual. What did he do with his time? He organized. While others were out laughing, singing, and drinking, he was holed up in Elrond's study, staring rather blankly at the wall. Then again, how could he possibly join in the merriment when everyone believed him to be... to be... well, it was best not to think of some of the unkind things that were said of him behind his back. That would only serve to make him feel worse. As it was his self-esteem need not be any lower, though he seriously doubted that it was possible to lower it any further at this point.  
  
"Erestor! There you are!"  
  
He blinked, clearing his eyes, and stood hastily as he recognized Lord Elrond's presence. He suddenly panicked, wondering if he'd sat on anything of vital importance. But, it was Elrond's fault for leaving things strewn about so! "L – "  
  
"Will you be attending the feast tonight?" Elrond's eyes sparkled brightly, barely able to contain his joy; it did not occur to him to wonder at the rather guilty expression covering his advisor's face. He had not only one, but two perfect little sons. All was right with the world.  
  
Erestor frowned slightly, realizing that Elrond seemed to not be paying the slightest bit of attention to anything. In fact, he looked as if he had already consumed his fair share of alcoholic beverages.  
  
"I had planned on skipping that, my lord." Drunken or even giddy elves tended to annoy him greatly for their lack of manners and their usually horridly loud voices. They also tended to do inappropriate things that he would never dream of doing. And that, he admitted to himself, was why they talked about him and why he was such a bore. That, however, would not stop him from avoiding the feast at all costs.  
  
The Lord of Imladris leaned toward Erestor momentarily, grinning suddenly. "Would you mind doing a favor for me, then?"  
  
"A favor? Of what nature, my lord?" he asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. Yes, indeed, Elrond had apparently had more than enough wine to ensure he would have a splitting headache in the morning. That, of course, meant that he would be dealing with his paperwork tomorrow. Damn, this was why he hated these stupid celebrations. The only work that would get done in the morning – or all day – would most likely be done by him.  
  
"Hm. Well, the babies, the twins – " Lord Elrond paused, as if having lost his train of thought in his attempt to keep from swaying. It would have helped if the room did not insist on moving around as it was. "Celebrian has every intention of joining us tonight and there's no one to watch the boys because everyone wants to go, too." (1)  
  
Ignoring the fact that Elrond sounded fairly like a child, Erestor was still alarmed at his words. "Lord Elrond! I don't know anything about – "  
  
"Good! Then it's settled! Come on, I'll take you to the nursery." With that, the slightly inebriated lord latched onto Erestor's arm and proceed to drag him down the hall to the twins' nursery, despite the advisor's numerous protests. He was in no way qualified to watch children, let alone infants! The boys were no more than a handful of hours old – what if they got hungry? What if they needed changed? He couldn't deal with that!  
  
Lord Elrond paid no attention to his advisor's weak protests as he dragged the smaller elf over to the large ornate crib that his young twins shared. "Here they are! I'm sure someone will be by eventually to take them off your hands."  
  
"But Lord Elrond – "  
  
"I'm sure you'll do fine. If they get hungry, they have two bottles right there, already warmed. They have on bracelets so you can tell them apart. Red is Elladan and blue is Elrohir."  
  
He did not have a chance to utter yet another protest because the door had already slammed behind the elf lord. The slamming of the door disturbed the sleep of the babies. He did not know which one started crying first, but the other quickly joined his brother. It was all Erestor could do not to cry out of frustration, himself.  
  
"Oh, Valor!" He stared helplessly down at the disgruntled, wrinkled little elflings, frozen in uncertainty. "Please stop crying, please!" There should be a manual on the care of elflings and if one already existed, it should be in his possession in this very moment of need!  
  
He pressed his head against the crib, one of his braids falling over the side as he contemplated banging his head into the hard wood. Then, a sudden silence fell over the tiny elflings and he frowned and started to lift his head, only to find his thin braid caught. Cautiously, he lifted his eyes. One of the little boys – he noted the red bracelet on his cubby wrist, Elladan, then – had his little hand wrapped around the end of his braid. He seemed fascinated by the object he clutched and pulled at it weakly; he did not understand why Elrohir had stopped crying, though he could only suppose that he had because his brother had, too.  
  
"That hurts," Erestor noted absently, as he allowed the elfling to pull his braid as hard as his new muscles would allow. At least they weren't crying anymore. "So, are you little ones are to be the heirs of Lord Elrond? You don't look like much at the moment, but I haven't exactly had that much experience with elflings before so I would assume that's natural. It looks as if the both of you will have dark hair as your father does." Though neither of them had much hair, there a bit of black fuzz on the tops of their little heads. They had such tiny little hands, and equally tiny perfectly shaped little elven ears and once one got past the fact that they were wrinkled and rather shapeless, they could almost be described as cute. Almost. As long as they weren't crying.  
  
He found out quickly that they really didn't do much. It wasn't like watching a dog or tending a horse and mostly they just laid there, occasionally wriggling about. As Elrond had suggested, he feed them both from their bottles, remembering to burp them – he had heard somewhere that you had to do that for some reason or they would become fussy and possible cry. He definitely didn't want them to cry. Changing them was a sort of trial and error sort of thing, but all the supplies had been neatly set out and being the intellectual elf that he was, eventually was able to put two and two together. It really was so hard. Except for the fact that he had managed to get the powdery white substance all over him (and white on black robes tended to show up far too well) it had been fairly straight forward.  
  
Eventually, though, they both stared crying again and for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was that was wrong. Finally he lifted one of them up – Elrohir, apparently – and began trying to sooth him. It worked, but at soon as he put him down he began to cry again. Finally he dragged over a large soft chair over next to their crib and pulled both of the little elflings into his lap and settled them against him. After much effort their cries subsided and the little ones fell asleep, which left him in a rather awkward position as he could not move without disturbing at least one of them and if one of them started crying, it would set off the other.  
  
With a weary sigh he relaxed back into the chair, exhaustion sweeping over him until he gave into it fully.  
  
His next conscious thought were a variety of curse words as bright light suddenly flashed into his eyes, forcing him out of reverie out of self defense. His next was, "Where are they??" Erestor's eyes started to the offending light where a blond female elf was standing, a faint smile decorating her face as she inclined her head towards him. She was either a servant or the elflings attendant? He wasn't sure which.  
  
"The twins are in their crib. You were deeply asleep when I came in so I moved them back so that you would be more comfortable."  
  
"Oh." He stretched a bit realizing that it had been a rather uncomfortable position he had been sitting in before. Now, what was he to do? Go back to work or perhaps – ?  
  
The door to the nursery was thrown open abruptly, causing him to jump in surprise as a beautiful silvery haired elf swept into the room. Celebrian, of course. Erestor was decidedly relieved; with her here he could return to his duties without worrying if he was to stay put or not.  
  
"Erestor! My husband said that you had stayed with them last night and I do thank you for that." Her smile was brilliant as she cast her eyes in the direction of the twins in their crib. Erestor was dragging himself to his feet, ready to make his hasty exit back to all the work that Elrond had undoubtedly left undone. "I do hope they won't be too much trouble while I'm gone."  
  
He froze in the act of standing and eventually sank back down into the chair. "What was that, my lady? Did you say 'while I'm gone'? Where, pray tell, are you going so soon after – "  
  
"Yes, I know it's a bit sudden, but I have been trapped in this dreary place for so long – the entirety of my pregnancy, you know, and before that, too. I've been away from my home in Lothlórien for far too long and I do wish to see my parents again. Of course I can't take the twins, they are far too young to travel so I'll have to leave them behind." Celebrian peered down at them for a moment, as if considering what kind of little creatures they were; there was nothing particularly caring about her gaze nor soft. It was as if she did not even recognize them as her own. "Anyway, I'll be back eventually."  
  
"Eventually?" he echoed softly. "Have you told Lord Elrond?"  
  
She waved away his concerns. "Indeed I have. My escort is waiting, my things are packed and I shouldn't be gone for more than a year or two, nothing more."  
  
"A year or so? Pardon me, my lady, but do you really want to leave your children so soon? Wouldn't it be better to wait for another time to – ?"  
  
"I simply cannot! Imladris is not and never will be my home and what have I to keep me here, anyway? I'm sure the twins will be in the best of hands." With that she flitted out of the room carelessly as if she had said nothing of any real important that would have no impact whatsoever on the future. Even though it would.  
  
Erestor stared blankly around the room for a moment, his mind instantly turning to Elrond and his feelings on the matter of his wife hurrying off as she was. It was no secret that their marriage had not been a love match, but Elrond had made the best of it and had even learned to care for Celebrian, but apparently the feeling had never been mutual. His gaze turned to the silent blond elf that was in turn watching him. "Could you, um... ?"  
  
"Linwë," she supplied.  
  
"Well, Linwë, could you please watch the twins for a moment? There is something I have to take care of."  
  
She nodded faintly. "Of course."  
  
Erestor hurried from the room and down the hallways until he came upon Elrond's private chambers; after knocking several times he finally tried the door and finding it unlocked, slipped inside. His lord and friend had thrown open the balcony doors and was leaning upon the ledge, looking out at the morning with a curiously void expression on his face. Quietly he crept closer and sighed as he saw what he was looking at: a small party of elves on horseback, among them a fair silver-haired elf who looked ever so pleased to be leaving.  
  
"My lord?"  
  
The half-elf jumped in surprise and half-turned toward him. "Erestor! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be... working on something?"  
  
There was a great sadness in Elrond's eyes that made his heart go out to him, but there was little he could do to alleviate his pain. Comforting others had never been a skill he had inherited, nor learned in his fairly lengthy life. "I saw Celebrian before she left. I fell asleep watching Elladan and Elrohir and she went to see them before she left."  
  
"Ah." He glanced back down at the horses that were disappearing into the distance. "I don't think she likes them, Erestor. I thought mothers were supposed to at least like them?"  
  
"Not all those that are mothers are motherly, my lord and I think she longs for her homeland. That can't be helped."  
  
"She has nothing to make her stay here, anyway. Not me, not her children – nothing. I – Erestor, would you please leave me for a bit? I don't think I will be very good company for a while." He wandered back to the balcony, his eyes becoming distant once more.  
  
Erestor hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should really leave as he requested, and in the end he stepped away and left him in silence.  
  
~~To be continued~~  
  
(1) I'm taking into account the fact that elfs heal fast and also, well, perhaps their culture tend not to show pain as much (being all serene and flowy and elf-like as they are) and are like those women that can work up until the time they give birth, give birth, and go back to work (probably in a field somewhere) right afterwards. If humans can do that, hell, elfs should be able to, too! ^^  
  
End Note: Just in case you were wondering.... Yes, yes I do hate Celebrian. Why? Ah, well, perhaps I have read too many fics in which she was the "evil one" and have decided to go with the majority of the opinions I've gotten from fanfics. So, down with Celebrian! And, yes, I have read fics were she was wonderful and sweet but for some reason I just don't like her.  
  
Naneth – mother (nana – mom) 


	2. Chapter Two

Oh, in case you didn't guess, I made up Linwë... as I've heard mentioned before, there is a certain lack of female characters in his tales so I had to create one. :)  
  
Naneth: chapter two  
  
by Ami-chan  
  
Erestor considered going back to his study to get to all the work that had piled up and was probably spawning more in his absence, but instead he headed to the nursery to check on the elfings. When he arrived both of them were howling; he could hear them from the hallway, even at a distance. Linwë looked up at him when he entered and he could see that she was having no luck getting Elladan to calm down and Elrohir was crying loudly from the crib.  
  
He hurried inside and swept Elrohir up into his arms and began whispering to him quietly. Amazingly his crying ceased and, when Linwë pushed the other twin into his arms they discovered that his crying stopped, as well. The she-elf sighed in relief. "They began right after you left and nothing could make them be silent. You truly have a gift with elfings."  
  
"No, I don't," he returned, but she merely smiled at him in disagreement. It occurred to him that they only liked him because he was familiar to them, but he was not going to mention that. He made a decision rather hastily, which was rather unlike him, though it was something that the situation called for. "Can you have a crib – an extra one – moved to my study? I'll need, well, everything they'll need. Some things will have to be re-arranged, but it will be workable." If there was one thing these impressionable elflings needed, it was something stable, something that would be constant within their lives and with Celebrian away and Elrond rightfully upset about that, it left him. Damn Elrond for putting him in this situation in the first place, but now that he was here he could at least do some good.  
  
Linwë readily agreed, perhaps not wanting to have to deal with such loud, and disagreeable elflings (or at least ones that would not respond to her) and Erestor collapsed back into the chair beside the crib, each of the boys in his arms. It appeared as if the twins had already grown attached to him and, whether he wanted to admit it or not, he had become attached to them as well.  
  
It was an annoying process to balance the twins in his arms while directing the chaos that had suddenly formed in his usually immaculate study. The two boys seemed to think all the excitement was rather amusing and that it was even more amusing to tug at Erestor's braids. It was a good thing he was a rather patient elf, else Elladan and Elrohir would have been quickly dumped onto the first elf that would willingly take them.  
  
It took most of the morning to rearrange it all to his liking and by then he felt utterly drained and exhausted and was more than happy to settle the twins into their crib; they had discovered that it was better not to separate the elflings because they had a tendency to get upset when the other was not near. He was once more grateful for his rather spacious study that before had been sparsely furnished with only his large desk and a bookcase that took up most of the length of the room. Now his desk was angled toward the door, the crib beside it and a new table along the far wall, which held some various supplies that weren't in the large basket that Linwë and kindly brought for him. It would also serve quite nicely as a changing table, he decided.  
  
The rest of the morning, what was left of it, was spent talking with Linwë on the actual care of the elfings; specifically how often to feed them, how to get them to stop crying (though he seemed to be managing that rather well so far), among other things. She would be assisting him as that had been her appointed duty in the first place; Linwë had been one of Celebrian's personal servants and she the lady had learned of her pregnancy she had charged her with the care of them. Even then, it seemed, Celebrian had not been planning on staying much longer in Imladris.  
  
After tending to the twins and a quick lunch for himself, Erestor startled tackling some new matters that had popped up when he hadn't been looking. Those were easily taken care of, however, so he crossed over into the horror that was Elrond's office and randomly selected a pile of papers from the mess and took them back to his own study to organize. If it was a matter he could deal with, he would, otherwise he would file them in an orderly manner for him to take care of whenever he got around to it (if ever).  
  
Elladan and Elrohir had different ideas, though, and proved it by telling out identical howls. The only thing they wanted was attention and so he gave it to them. When they had fallen asleep once more, he collapsed in his desk chair and put his head down, the idea of a nap appealing to him immensely. Except that there was work to do and if Elrond wasn't in the mood for such things – well, it didn't really matter, did it? It had to be done by someone.  
  
With a sigh he began reluctantly going through matters that had been too long overlooked already, forcing himself to stay awake. When it was almost to the point where he just wanted to scream, he was saved. Sort of.  
  
The door to the study flew open, jerking Erestor to full attention immediately, his eyes flying towards the noise. "Hey, Erestor – "  
  
He was on his feet and across the room before the other could blink, his hand pressing against his mouth. "Shh!!" Why did he always have to be so loud? He had always felt like an annoyed parent reprimanding his child for not having an in-door voice, but he suppose it came from shouting orders during a battle. There were times he could be quiet, though that was generally during a sneak attack and any other time he felt it was unnecessary to not bellow. "I'll not have you waking them, do you hear me?"  
  
The blond elf before him blinked in surprise and nodded faintly. When Erestor removed his hand he frowned. "What are you talking ab – " He cut himself off as he took in the changes the room before him had undergone. "A crib? Erestor, is there something you aren't telling me?"  
  
He glared coldly at him and gestured him quickly over to the crib so he could peer in. "Elrond's sons? What are they doing in here?" For once, his voice was quiet, subdued and for that Erestor was extremely grateful. At the moment he didn't think he wanted to deal with the little elfings.  
  
"Well, I'm sure the news is all over Imladris by now, so I should think that that would be quite obvious."  
  
"That Celebrian left? Yes, of course, but why you?"  
  
His eyes rolled toward the ceiling as he considered how he would answer that question. "Honestly, Glorfindel? I don't really know, but I do know it was not entirely my decision – Elladan and Elrohir seem to have taken a liking to me and there must be someone to watch over them."  
  
"So young and they already have such impeccable taste," he joked as he wrapped an arm loosely about the advisor, who in turn squirmed away and dropped back into his seat. "You look tired. Is it possible you were up all night and yet were not at the celebrations?"  
  
Erestor shot an accusing look in the direction of the twins and the blond chuckled softly. "I see. They look so peaceful now, but to have managed to cause you so much trouble they must certainly be a handful. Perhaps one day they will be great warriors."  
  
"Though hopefully they'll have more sense than you, else they would be in a world of trouble."  
  
Glorfindel staggered, as if greatly wounded by his words. "What's that? I, no sense? Surely you must not mean that, especially in light of all that I have accomplished!" Their friendly banter might have continued, indeed, would have, except that Erestor's eyes had gone vacant as he leaned back in his chair, the need for sleep having overtaken him. "There will likely be many more sleepless nights ahead of you, meldir nîn." He glanced once more into the crib at the little twins and saw two sets of identical grey eyes gazing back at him, though they seemed content to remain silent.  
  
When Linwë arrived later she found the dark haired advisor still sound asleep at his desk, and the legendary Balrog slayer on the floor, playing with the twins. He smiled up at her as she entered. "I was just going to check on the twins," she murmured, unable to completely hide her shock at finding so noble an elf cuddling two little elflings.  
  
"I do believe that they do not mind my company, or that they sense that their dear Erestor needs his beauty sleep. Either way, they certainly have been behaving themselves."  
  
At the sound of his voice – or perhaps it was at the sound of his own name – Erestor bolted awake and was on his feet in an instant. "Glorfindel?"  
  
"I'm sorry I woke you, melme."  
  
The dark hair elf's face went red, not from embarrassment, but from anger. "Don't call me that! How many times must I remind you?"  
  
"What, do you think it is not true?"  
  
His eyes narrowed sharply, but he was halted from replying when one of the elflings whimpered – Elrohir, as it turned out. Instantly Erestor was beside him, cradling him in his arms. "See what you have done, you horrid brute."  
  
Glorfindel smiled, noting that Linwë quietly slipped from the room, leaving them in peace. "I think it was you that upset them. They were quiet calm before."  
  
"I did not even raise my voice so how could it have been my fault?"  
  
"Do not misjudge them, Erestor. I think they sensed that you were upset, which in turn upset them." He glanced down at the boy in his arms. "Which one is this?"  
  
"Elladan. I believe he's the elder twin, though only by a few minutes."  
  
"You 'believe'? You do not know for certain? And if so, what makes you think he is the elder?"  
  
Erestor shrugged as he studied the small figure in his arms. "Lord Elrond said his name first. Considering that they had just been named, it would make sense that he would say their names in the order they were born."  
  
"Sometimes you think too much."  
  
"And you too little!" Elrohir cooed and reached for a dark strand of hair that had brushed his hand. The advisor's dark eyes immediately calmed in response to the elfling's antics, making him almost completely forget his previous annoyance with the blond.  
  
Glorfindel laughed merrily, earning him yet another scowl from Erestor. "I think," he said, in answer to his unspoken question, "That these little ones will have a good influence on that altogether too sharp temper of yours."  
  
"I do NOT have a sharp temper!" He bit his tongue and scowled again, ignoring the other's faux innocently curious gaze. It was time for a subject change. "Have you seen Lord Elrond today?"  
  
Blue eyes clouded over faintly. "For a moment. He did not wish to be disturbed. I can understand that, but he needn't push all of his friends away as he does. In his heart he must have known that she would not stay very long and though it his something of a blow that she would disappear so soon and yet – "  
  
"That was foreshadowed, as well."  
  
"Indeed. The Lady Celebrian can be very charming and sweet, though her blatant disregard for the opinions of others truly makes me hate her as I have hated few in my life." Glorfindel smiled sadly at Elladan, tapping the end of his cute little nose with the tip of his finger. "Never fear though, little one. You have someone better than a nana – you have Erestor and of course your dear father, whenever he manages to dredge himself out of his bout of depression."  
  
"It's more of a reflection of a betrayal of some kind. This can hardly be compared to when we lost Gil-Galad." A shiver raced through him as he remembered that trying time. "Even now I don't think he's recovered from that loss."  
  
"That's true. Well, no matter. We have two beautiful elflings to attend to and that's really the important thing."  
  
The next few days passed by very quickly for Erestor was not only covering for the Lord of Imladris, but tending the twins and no matter how sweet they could be, it was not an easy task. He had taken to falling asleep in the nursery, where Linwë would find in him the mornings; by the second day she had arranged to have a bed placed in the room so that he did not have to awake to a stiff neck. In the late afternoons Glorfindel would join him and play with the twins and allow him a chance to get more work done or, as was more often the case, to catch a nap. Though he was often very busy with patrols and his own reports, he was always willing to spare as much time as he was able to in order to make sure Erestor was not over taxing himself.  
  
Lord Elrond had, in that time, been drifting about the Last Homely House like a wandering spirit, aimless and unhappy. The servants and most of the other inhabitants left him alone and only Erestor or Glorfindel ever tried to approach him; neither of them had had much success.  
  
"One week today Elrohir, Elladan," he told each of them in turn, for they were individuals and deserved to be addressed as such and, he had seen, they had begun to recognize the sound of their own names and respond to them. "A whole week old already. Soon you will be walking and talking and I won't know what to do with you. I have a feeling you will be little troublemakers, but I will love you all the same despite that."  
  
"Erestor!"  
  
Dark eyes widening, the advisor turned toward the door that connected his study to the Lord of Imladris's. "Lord Elrond?" he asked as he quickly crossed the space and wandered inside. "Is there something I can do for you?"  
  
Elrond looked more coherent than he had in days, finally having come to terms with the fact that his wife preferred the company of almost anyone else besides himself. Though he held no real heart-felt love for her, she had still won some place in his heart that was trying to recover from the cold blow that she had dealt him. "Did you organize all of this? I can't find a thing anymore."  
  
He hid a smile behind the sleeve of his robe. "Of course, my lord. You never could find anything if it was put in an orderly fashion."  
  
"Thank you, Erestor. I don't know what I would do without you."  
  
He shrugged lightly. "Let Imladris go to ruin, I suppose. I took care of everything that I could and left only a few things that I thought needed your personal attention." He pushed a small stack of papers towards him.  
  
"That's all?" he had to inquire. "Out of all of that mess?"  
  
Erestor "hmph"ed at him. "Let it not be said that Lord Elrond's advisor was not perfectly capable of taking over his lord's duties. Indeed, I would have done it all, but then that would make me more the ruler than you, would it not?"  
  
A tried smile, but still a smile, covered his face and it was obvious that he had needed a bit of humor to lighten his heavy spirits. "I should probably stop by and check on the twins. I have too long neglected them. Have you seen to it that they are being probably tended?"  
  
"You could say that, I suppose. In fact, if you wanted to see them, they are right next door."  
  
Elrond frowned at that, momentarily confused. "Do you mean to say that they are in your study, Erestor? Why would they – you haven't been looking after them yourself, have you? Oh, mellon nîn, I am sorry to put you through all the trouble. Had I known – "  
  
"My lord, it's no trouble," he hastily reassured them. "I think they have become quite fond of them and I can clearly say the feeling is mutual." He took Elrond by the arm. "Come and see them. I am sure they will be happy to see you."  
  
With that, he lead Elrond into his re-arranged study, smiling as he saw the surprised expression on his face. Perhaps it wasn't as orderly as he would have liked to keep it, but there were more important things to worry about than that. "Your adar is here to see you."  
  
Peace seemed to sweep through Elrond as he reached down to touch the soft face of one of the twins and then the other. Then, with alarm, he realized that their bracelets were gone. "Erestor, which is which? The colored – "  
  
"I took them off. They didn't like them," he explained as he lifted one of the elflings. "Elrohir, this is your ada. He'll soon be able to tell the two of you apart because he is going to spend a lot of time with you." He handed him over to Elrond and retrieved the other boy from the crib. "And this, naturally, is Elladan."  
  
"They look so much alike, how can you tell them apart so easily?"  
  
Erestor shrugged. "They are very different, you'll see."  
  
Elrond could only shake his head in bemusement, trusting that Erestor was right but unable to comprehend at that moment that such a feat would be possible. It was the same with he and Elros – few had ever been able to tell them apart and yet it had not been so hard when he was one of them. (1) Now, he was beginning to realize the trouble he had put everyone else through without even realizing it.  
  
~~To be continued~~  
  
(1) In case you don't know, Elros was Elrond's twin brother that became mortal... blah, blah, blah. Losing Elros was probably hard on him, which was why he really didn't want to lose Arwen. Poor Elrond.  
  
Naneth – mother (nana – mom)  
  
Adar – father (ada – dad)  
  
meldir nîn - my dear friend  
  
mellon nîn – my friend  
  
melme - lovely one 


End file.
